This House by James Graham

A historical play for today

How can a play about 1970s UK politics speak so forcefully to the Westminster of today? James Graham's This House takes us back to pre-Thatcherite Britain to issue a stark reminder of the past as we look to reshape our future.

Since his professional debut in 2005, James Graham has established himself as one of the country's most astute political playwrights. With his work now traversing film, television and theatre, Graham's unique ability to precisely translate the complex and often bizarre world of UK politics for a popular audience sees his plays well suited for classroom study.

This House, Graham's 2012 play for the National Theatre, is no exception. The play's original production recreated the familiar banked seating of the House of Commons, though much of the action is located in the shadows of this iconic setting, with the so-called engine rooms of party politics – the Whip Offices of the Labour and Conservative parties – providing the backdrop for much of the action.

A quintessential history play, This House transports us to the 1970s and a specific yet significant period in the decade where a hung parliament in 1974 provided the catalyst for one of the most turbulent times in modern UK politics. From here, Graham eschews the well-known political figures of the time, choosing instead to tell the story through the people who, though formative in the making of this history, have nonetheless been overlooked in existing accounts. Traversing five years of this decade – up until Margaret Thatcher's victory in the 1979 General Election – Graham's most ambitious piece of political theatre to date provides a perfect blend of acute historical detail, comedy, music and fast-paced dialogue to return to a decade whose politics bears a close resemblance to our own contemporary political climate.

Key themes

At its core, This House is a play about power, and the associated structures that inform much of the world in which we live. Indeed, by shifting the focus away from the key political figureheads of the time and onto lesser known but nevertheless influential individuals, Graham enables us to explore a more human side of politics that is removed from the media spotlight yet still informed by power. This provides a useful way into a discussion around the ways that politics – and by extension power – can impact the day to day lives of the population.

Ideas around class, both as presented in the text and as illustrated in the dialectical and costume choices of the members of the Labour and Conservative parties, is a further key theme of the play. As is the visibility, expectations, and roles of women in 1970s Westminster. These themes can serve to inform specific debates around the representation of class and gender in the play, as well as feeding into broader discussions around structures of power, and their application outside of politics.

Why study This House?

This play is particularly well-suited for teachers looking to introduce ideas of context, power and representation into a classroom discussion. It is an excellent example of the ways that new plays about a particular time in history can still bear a relevance to contemporary life and how, through reading a play, we are often required to consider broader social, political and historical events to inform and further our understanding. In This House, key touchstones of the 1970s such as widespread strike action, regular power cuts, the introduction of the three-day week and the so-called Winter of Discontent in 1978 are expertly interwoven into the text.

Yet, these crucial events are referenced only fleetingly, demonstrating how broader contexts can inform but not detract from the central narrative of a play. The once rare hung Parliament that situates the play's opening firmly in 1974 has been repeated twice in the last decade alone, in 2010 and 2017, equipping the play with a contemporary relevance from the outset. Indeed, as the scrap for every vote comes into sharp focus and both parties vie for Government control, the play evokes similar images seen in parliament in the wake of the 2016 Brexit referendum, much of which played out live on national television for the population to witness. The play, therefore, serves a dual purpose; as an evaluation of a standalone time in history and as a critical comment on modern Britain.

Possible approaches

Situated entirely in or around the Houses of Parliament, This House offers the opportunity to consider the relationship between theatre and politics and how notions of performance can be applied and recognised beyond the traditional theatre space.

The play's use of music and sound also provides an alternative way to access the text. Here, Graham uses songs like David Bowie's Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide to simultaneously progress the narrative and allude to broader cultural moments of the decade. Encouraging students to consider the role of music and sound in the play can help to off set any early reservations about studying what can at times feel like quite a politically dense piece of playwriting.

This House is available in the Student Editions series published by Methuen Drama. Inspection copies are available to request through bloomsbury.com and you can also enjoy 20 per cent off by applying discount code HOUSE20 at checkout until 28 February 2022.